Taiwanese e-commerce platform KKday yesterday inked a memorandum of understanding with European train ticket vendor Rail Europe Inc to promote rail travel in Europe.
KKday.com International Co (酷遊天) founder and chief executive officer Ming Chen (陳明明) said that he appreciated the opportunity to work with Rail Europe and he is positive travel growth momentum in Europe would continue next year.
The European travel market had a 60 percent surge in the first nine months of this year from the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, Chen said.
Photo: Ting Yi, Taipei Times
The two sides agreed to focus on product and technology integration, market promotion, passenger experience enhancement and exploration of innovative services.
“The objective of this collaboration is to inspire a deeper exploration of Europe among Asian travelers,” Chen said.
KKday plans to utilize its platform to draw more travel industry partners and enlarge Rail Europe’s customer base, he said.
Rail Europe president and CEO Bjorn Bender said that his visit to Asia has enabled him to gain a better understanding of the region’s diverse markets.
In the post-pandemic era, people have displayed a keen desire to travel and many would opt for train travel to avoid unnecessary flights and help reduce carbon emissions, Bender said.
The company hopes the partnership with KKday would establish an all-in-one platform for travelers and the travel industry that would provide a wide array of products spanning 33 European countries, and more than 150 European rail brands and routes, he said.
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) arbitrage trade might soon see a change in dynamics that could affect the trading of the US listing versus the local one. And for anyone who wants to monetize the elevated premium, Goldman Sachs Group Inc highlights potential trades. A note from the bank’s sales desk published on Friday said that demand for TSMC’s Taipei-traded stock could rise as Taiwan’s regulator is considering an amendment to local exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) ownership. The changes, which could come in the first half of this year, could push up the current 30 percent single-stock weight limit
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard